Shaft seal for compressors



Jan. l2, 1932. c. E. PLoEGi-:R

' SHAFT SEAL Fox'coMPREssoRs Filed sept. 7, 1929 l i I, Z/ l I 1 5o fg@ c/ 2)' Q 7u Patented Jan. 12, 1932 factors.

[UNIT-ED STATES Parrain. oFFlcE,

CLYDE EDWARD PLOEGER, 0F EVANSVILLE, INDANA, ASSIGNOB T0 SEBVEL, INC., OF -NEW YORK, N. Y., A. CORPORATION OF DELAWARE .SHAFT SEAL Fon coMPREssons application mea september 7, 192s. serial in. 390,924.

invention relates to an improvement int shaft seals for compressors and the like. jIn compressors, particularly those used'in connection with domestic refrigerators, it is essential that a` gas tight seal be maintained at the point Where the'crank shaft extends through the crank case in order to prevent the escape of the refrigerant or other working medium. Inasmuch as the crank shaft must lbe rotatable, the problem is one of obtaining a seal between members movable relative to each other. More particularly, my invention relates to Vshaft seals of the type comprisin a bellows member rotatable with a shaft. n this type of shaft seal it has been found that the stationary bearing member attached to the compressor crank case has become warped or distorted in cases where a distortion takes place in the part of the compressor casing to which the stationary bearing member is. attached. A slight distortion may cause an objectionable leakage. It is among the objects of my invention to provide a new and improved type of seal bearing plate, the bearing surface of which will not be affected by a slight warping of the crank case or b`y .other disturbing Further objects and advantages will beap- *parent from the following description when bearing 12. The end of the crank shaft ex'' tends through bearing 12 in-wall 10 and is adapted at 14 -to receive a pulley or gear wheel by means of which rotation may be imparted to they shaft.

A short distance outside of V'bearing 12 'a shoulder l5 is formed on sha-ft 13. A spool 16, 'having -an inside diameter substantially 4 equal tothe outside diameter of reduced section 17 'of the shaft, is secured in place thereon by means of a nut 18 which engages' threads 19 on the shaft. One end of spool 16 is forced against shoulder 15 and a gas tight joint is secured therebetween with the aid of packing 20 which is retained in a circumferential groove 21. A

The outer end of spool` 16 is provided with a flange 22 to which is hermetically sealed a circumferentially corrugated, longitudinally -expansible and contractable member 23, hereinafterl referred to as a bellows. The other end of bellows 23 is sealed to a ring 24 which supports a seal bearing ring 25. A. seal bearying plate 26is secured in a circular recess in wall `10 by means of a plurality of bolts 27 Plate 26 comprises a main portion through which bolts'27 pass and which is clam ed .thereby against wall- 10, and also an o set portion 28 on the outer face of which isl or -ed a bearingsurface. The neck of metal connecting the main portion of plate 26 wlth the offset portion 28 extends at right angles to the mam and offset portions and is relatively thin and hence flexible and thus allows a slight distortion of the main part without this distortion being communicated to, orf-affecting in any way, the offset portion. In

other words,'.the bearing surface of the offset portion 28 will remain true even though portion 26 attached tothe compressor 'casing is slightly distorted. v

A retaining collar 29 fits over a shoulder on nut 18 and is clamped between the' nut and ange 22 on spool 16. One end of a helical spring 30 is retained by collar 29 while the other end of the spring bears against ring 24. A thrust bearing collar 31 is loosely mounted on shaft 13 adjacent to the innerend of berin 12 and serves to take any end thrust in t e shaft.

Fromuthe foregoing it will be seen that spool 16 rotates with shaft 13 and carries with it bellows 23, 'ring 24\and bearing ring 25. Bearing plate 26 is stationary and hence the seal is between the bearing surfaces .of ring 25 and plate 26.

pressure which ma va v existing Within forced slightly apart and air would leak into Y sameand force ring against plate 26, while'- the atmospheric pressure outside will have the opposite tendency. Hence, when the pressure within the bellows is less than atmospheric the bearing surfaces-'would be the system if it were not for 'spring 30.

- 4This spring tends to force ring -'25 against plate 26 andl is strong enough to overcome atmospheric pressure. However, when the internal pressure is greater than atmospheric, which is ordinarily the cas'e, the resultant effect of the two gas pressures is to expand the bellows without the aid of spring 30 Furthermore, this force tending to expand the bellows is of course proportional to the internal pressure and this `is as it should be, for ,the greaterL the internal pressure, .the greater the tendency for gas to leak between the surfaces of ring 25 vand plate- 26 and hence' the tighter these surfaces should be forced together. Y On the other hand, when the internal preure is not so great, it undesirable that excess' force'shouldbe a plied, as this would cause undue wear of t e surfaces,... f

By attaching bearing ring`25 to the bellows,

.itis not rigidly mounted'b'ut may accommodate itself so that the plane of its'bearin surface will at all times lie in the plane Ao the bearin surfacev of plate 26. Thus, if the crank sha is slightly bent or plate 26 is not rfect alignment, @the bearing surfaces nevertheless lie in the same plane and the gas tight seal'will not be impaired. However. in bearing plates nogconstructed with an offset portion, the pla only be slightly out of alignment due to the im operl assembly, but a slight warping of wa -10 would result in distorting the plate so that its bearing surface'wuld not .lie in a singlelane but would become a'warped Surface. this case it was imposibleto obtain perfect contact between ring 25 and the plate, thus resulting in leakage.

' The Vpresent bearing plate 26 is designed to overcome this diiiiculty byfplacing the bearing surface o n the oiset portion J28. While themain portion .of the plate may -be slight--k ly distorted, the relatively thin neckg'of metal between it and the offset portion allows the latter to\remain undistorted and its bearing surface remains onek plane. Hence, perfect contact between it and ring 25 ismaintained and a shaft seal, gas tight at alltimes l and under all conditions, is obtained.

While I have shown and'described` amore or less specific embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that modifications there'- of, such as would occur to one` skilled in the art, fall within its scope which is to be limited only by the appended claims, viewed in the light-of the prior art.

What I clai is:

In a shaft gal a perforated wall, a shaft extending through said wall, a bearing ring ixed to said shaft, and fa bearing member fixed to said wall, said bearing member havy ing an inwardly turned flange enga ing said bearing ring, an outwardly turned ange for attachment to said wall and a substantially cylindrical l web connecting 4saidlinges, whereby distortion ofthe outwardly extending flange incident to its attachment to said 'wall is not transmitted'to the inwardly turned flange.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto afal ixed -my signature.

CLYDEEDWARD PLOEGER.

might not 4 

